Welcoming Communities: Working to Improve the Inclusion of Visible Minorities and Immigrants in Second and Third Tier Ontario Cities Victoria Esses Co-Chair,

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Presentation on theme: "Welcoming Communities: Working to Improve the Inclusion of Visible Minorities and Immigrants in Second and Third Tier Ontario Cities Victoria Esses Co-Chair,"— Presentation transcript:

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Welcoming Communities: Working to Improve the Inclusion of Visible Minorities and Immigrants in Second and Third Tier Ontario Cities Victoria Esses Co-Chair, Ontario Welcoming Communities vesses@uwo.ca

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Background and Premises Changing face of Ontario communities Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement and goal of more regionalization Increasing recognition of need for immigrants in centres outside of Toronto Social and economic challenges: cities must work on accommodating the ethnic, racial and religious diversity provided by immigrants and the increasing second and third generations

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Challenges to meeting the needs of a more diverse community: - -selling it to long-term residents - -removing barriers to full participation: economic, social - -reconfiguring existing services, new models of service delivery - -new ways of living together, new forms of spatial and social belonging - -implementation and coordination Ontario Welcoming Communities Initiative: developed to help meet these challenges - capitalizes on local expertise and intellectual capacity in world-class universities in 2 nd and 3 rd tier cities across the province Intent is to work with stakeholders to identify strategic priorities, conduct analyses, and shape policy guidance and practical advice

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Major Project Goals 1) Strengthen municipal capacity to attract and benefit from diversity and immigration in 2 nd and 3 rd tier Ontario cities 2) Strengthen the capacity of the voluntary sector to contribute to equitable and inclusive communities 3) Maximize the economic benefits of diversity and immigration for 2 nd and 3 rd tier Ontario cities

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4) Understand barriers to social cohesion, and test and implement strategies for creating and sustaining communities in which all members feel comfortable and valued 5) Share findings and recommendations widely 6) Train highly skilled personnel: training opportunities for students, postdoctoral fellows, community personnel, faculty

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Partners in Second and Third Tier Ontario Cities Universal Service Providers (e.g., United Way/Centraide Ottawa) Immigrant-Serving and Ethnocultural Agencies and Associations (e.g., Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County) School Boards (e.g., Thames Valley District School Board) Municipal and Regional Government Departments (e.g., City of Hamilton, Community Services)

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Association of Municipalities (e.g., Association française des municipalités de lOntario) Business and Employment Associations and Networks (e.g., Niagara Training and Adjustment Board) National Associations (e.g., Canadian Council on Social Development) National Research Organizations (e.g., Environics) Provincial Government Departments (e.g., Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration) Federal Government Departments (e.g., Canadian Heritage)

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Important Feature = Collaborative arrangements with Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) Committees: designed to optimize efficiencies and effectiveness

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Governance Governing Council - -co-chaired by university rep and community/municipal rep - -equality across participating universities - -full partnership between universities and communities / municipalities Executive Committee University Subcommittee - -1 rep per university Community and Municipal Subcommittee - -1 rep per community Domains

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3) Education and Educational Policy: led by Dawn Zinga (Brock) & Cynthia Levine-Rasky (Queens) - integrating equity and diversity issues in all education areas; educational outcomes and educational inequalities for immigrants and visible minorities; second language learning practices and policies; approaches to equity and diversity issues in teacher education. 4) Children and Youth: led by Audrey Kobayashi (Queens) & Xinyin Chen (Western) - social and psychosocial conditions affecting integration; responses of long-settled non-minority children and youth to their immigrant and minority peers; specific issues faced by the second generation of visible minority youth; labour market integration of immigrant and minority youth; and programs and policies to promote inclusion.

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5) Optimizing Social and Cultural Integration: led by Victoria Esses (Western) - determinants and consequences of local attitudes toward visible minorities and immigrants; role of the local media and opinion leaders; experiences of visible minorities and immigrants; definitions of personal and Canadian identity; and strategies to promote inclusion. 6) Entrepreneurship, Immigrants, and Visible Minorities: led by Benson Honig (Wilfrid Laurier) and Margaret Walton- Roberts (Wilfrid Laurier) - explaining immigrant and visible minority enterprise; promoting information and trade flows; transnational entrepreneurship.

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Comparative studies Multidisciplinary, multimethod Baseline projects that will provide data for all domains Iterative process with continual refinement as new knowledge and questions are generated by the research process Scholarship of Engagement